The Sicilian town where the Covid vaccination rate hit 104%

An extraordinary' campaign is credited for Palazzo Adriano's stellar uptake - even if topping 100% is a statistical quirk

While European governments weigh up new mandates and measures to boost the uptake of Covid jabs there is on the slopes of Sicily's Monte delle Rose a village with a vaccination rate that defies mathematics: 104%.

The figure is in part a statistical quirk - vaccine rates are calculated by Italian health authorities on a town or village's official population and can in theory rise above 100% if enough non-residents are jabbed there - but Palazzo Adriano, where the Oscar-winning movie Cinema Paradiso was filmed, is by any standards a well-vaccinated community. A good portion of the population has already taken or booked a third dose and since vaccines were first available it utilised its close-knit relations to protect its people.